I'd be lying if I told you I wanted to go here on a Friday night. A quiet town, a small bar, random…read morelocals. In my head it was a recipe for awkward, but in reality, it was the best decision I made on my trip.
While visiting Yellowstone and staying at a local weekend rental, my friend and I decided to swing through Shotgun Bar on a Friday night. We expected live music, but were met with the quiet tone of the jukebox. Apparently, the live music happens during the summer and winter. However, that didn't matter.
A couple locals sat at the bar and a friendly bartender immediately welcomed us. As a tourist, I wasn't sure whether to pretend to fit in or play it off and not bother the locals. It wasn't long before we were sniffed out. It is a small town of 250+ after all. What happened next would change the course of our journey.
We ended up meeting some of the friendliest, funnest and funniest people of our lives. They embraced us and before we knew it, we were all buying each other drinks.
I will warn you, the sake jelly shots we were encouraged to chug were a struggle, but the experience left us holding our bellies with laughter.
One of the owners of the bar, Katie, really made the experience special. She told us stories of the locals, gave us Yellowstone tips and history, showed us around and invited us to her home. She introduced us to other locals and genuinely made the experience once in a lifetime.
By the end of the weekend we didn't just have drinking buddies at a bar, we met kind-hearted, genuine and incredibly funny people that we now consider friends.
On top of all that, the beer selection was superior.
As we prepared to leave on the final night, the other owner, Jessica, gave her own bottle of bear spray to us so we wouldn't be mauled walking home at night (Uber isn't quite prevalent here). Luckily, we didn't need to use it.
These people are the real deal, these people are genuine Americans. This experience made Yellowstone feel like a tiny morsel of awesome in the grand scheme of things. As they say, sometimes it's not about the destination, it's about the people you meet along the way.
Definitely meet the people of Shotgun Bar.